Coming, occurring, continuing, or remaining after the correct, usual, or expected time; delayed: a late breakfast; a late meeting. See Synonyms at tardy. b. Occurring at an advanced hour, especially well into the evening or night: a late movie on television; the late flight to Denver.
Â­Just Â­about every tree has an outer layer of cork bark, but the cork oak (Quercus suber) is the primary source of most cork products in the world, including wine bottle stoppers. These trees primarily grow in countries that run along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, where there's plenty of sunshine, low rainfall and high humidity. The countries that produce the most cork include Portugal, Algeria, Spain, Morocco, France, Italy and Tunisia.
Overview. Wine bottle corks traditionally come from the bark of the cork oak tree. The bark of this Mediterranean oak is thick and spongy. Every 10 to 12 years, part of the bark is stripped off in commercial harvests. The cork grows over the next 10 to 12 years making this a sustainable natural product. The scientific name of the cork oak tree is Quercus suber. It is a slow growing tree with an 150- to 250-year life span.